See Lilka Run! Run Lilka Run!
by Ripslinger
Summary: WA 2 Choose-Your-Own-Adventure styled story. (Still in process of uploading)
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Sigh…  Beaten by Fanfiction.net…  All my efforts to simply try to center and indent have been for naught.  Okay, here's how it goes.  This is an attempt at a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure for Wild Arms 2.  Unfortunately, I haven't beaten WA 2 so if someone's alive that shouldn't be...  Well, lets just pretend they are, okay?  Lousy disc read errors…  Please, don't tell me what happens!  Also, it's best not to read the chapters in order.  It won't make any sense if you do.  Well, it'll make less sense that way.  Enjoy!

* * *

"Hocus Pocus!"

With the magic words and a wave of your hand, a small puff of white smoke shoots out of a jet-black top hat, eventually followed by a wheezing, fluffy bunny. Satisfied with the magic trick, you decide to treat your friends, most of which conveniently for you reside at Valeria Chateau, to your newly perfected magic show.  You toss all of your props and things into your standard issue invisible RPG backpack and grab your mighty umbrella of doom (the red one).  As soon as you finish packing, you skip merrily out the massive oak doors of the school's front entrance towards the teleporter out of the town.  Unfortunately, Terry is at the entrance, arms folded across his chest.  He doesn't look very happy.

"Are you ditching class again, Lilka?" he asks sourly.

"Of course not," you lie quickly, "I'm just going out to look for some... materials!  Yes, some materials for a new experiment I'm working on."

"I don't think so, Lilka," Terry states smugly, "I'm going to tell."

"Come on."  You flash the annoying kid a wink and grin.  "Live a little, will ya?"

He reddens slightly but manages to continue frowning and is now shooting daggers at you, figuratively of course.  It doesn't look like he's going to change his mind any time soon.

You laugh nervously and scuff your shoe in the snow for a moment before swiftly poleaxing Terry with your umbrella, happily noting that his hard head didn't leave any noticeable damage on your favorite umbrella.

You step over the now unconscious Terry and search your pockets for the teleport orb the group had left in your care.  You find it in your left pocket, next to your spare "Eat My Dust" bomb.  You mentally note to put the two items in separate pockets later.

You heft the teleport orb in your right hand.

Do you:

a) Use the teleport orb (go to chapter 2)

b) Walk to Valeria Chateau (go to chapter 3)

c) Be a good girl and go to class (go to chapter 4)


	2. Chapter 2

You hesitate for a moment.  You haven't had the best luck when it came to teleporting.  But still, it is the quickest means of travel at your disposal.  You assure yourself that it was all in the past.  You are an accomplished crest sorceress, savior of Filgaia, and the reigning jelly roll eating champion of the universe!  You can do this!  You clasp the teleport orb in your hands and focus your thoughts on the grand floating mansion.  You shut your eyes tightly as you feel the sudden rush of magic envelop your body that accompanied teleporting.  It's not long before you hear the sounds of crashing waves in the background.  Certain you're in the right place, you reopen your eyes to see...  the hovering mansion in the distance.  You sigh wistfully.  You are outside the town of Meria, not Valeria Chateau.    Well, at least you didn't land on some remote island in the middle of nowhere occupied by an insane crest sorcerer that wants you to clean his house, right?

Do you:

a) Walk to Valeria Chateau (go to chapter 6)

b) Stop by Meria for a quick snack (go to chapter 7)

c) Try teleporting again (go to chapter 8)


	3. Chapter 3

You wander the Sielje region for hours looking for the mining pass entrance that runs through Mount Chug-chug.  The perpetual snow and wind bite at you from all sides.  You blow into your hands in a vain attempt to warm them as you wonder what possessed you to walk all the way to Valeria Chateau.  

"I suppose it's good exercise," you rationalize, trying to convince yourself that you're not an idiot for wandering the frozen wasteland without pants.

During your search, you find yourself squinting a lot, the glare of the sun bouncing off the freshly fallen powder.  The entrance is not too far off.  You pick up your pace, wanting to get out of the cold as soon as possible.  When you finally reach the entrance, you notice that it is closed off, a sign nailed to one of the stiff planks used to board up the mineshaft.

"Danger.  Beware of...?"  You are unable to make out the last word.  Whoever made the sign obviously did not have the foresight of using waterproof paint in a region that snowed all year long.

"Beware of what?" you say aloud, shivering slightly.

You attempt to pry the boards loose from the entrance but they're nailed in pretty well.  It doesn't look like you're going to be able to go this way.

"Great, now what am I supposed to do?"

Do you:

a) Use the teleport orb (go to chapter 2)

b) Vent your anger before doing anything (go to chapter 5)

c) Take this as a sign from the guardians and go to class (go to chapter 4)


	4. Chapter 4

You decide to cut through the museum to make sure the teachers and one annoying student don't see you.  You aren't too terribly late.  Well, maybe you are.  If you could sneak into the classroom and sit in the back, you might even get away with making the teacher believe you were there all along.  Humming a happy tune, you merrily skip by the Hyulkonton exhibit, which promptly comes to life and uhhh... eats you. Yes, it eats you... like a marshmallow!

* * *

Umareta bakari no hoshi no you ni

Zawameki no naka obieteta

Jibun no koto dake shika mamorenai

Dareka wo tasukeru koto mo

Dakedo

Bokura ni takusareta mirai

Sono akogare wo tsuyosa ni kaete

(Lyrics contributed by: Saka Ogawa)

Game over.  Please try again!


	5. Chapter 5

You kick the boarded up entrance and let loose a scream in frustration, completely ignoring the fact that your voice echoes quite loudly. You have wasted a good portion of the day.  Most likely by now the Meria bakery will be out of jelly rolls.  Sulking, you fumble through your invisible RPG backpack for the teleport orb but the invisible zipper jams, the mechanism  frozen solid.  Maybe it's in your pocket?  As you are about to check, a low rumble draws your attention above you. It would seem that your screams have caused an avalanche…

"Eep!"

You really should've stayed in bed today.

* * *

Umareta bakari no hoshi no you ni

Zawameki no naka obieteta

Jibun no koto dake shika mamorenai

Dareka wo tasukeru koto mo

Dakedo

Bokura ni takusareta mirai

Sono akogare wo tsuyosa ni kaete

(Lyrics contributed by: Saka Ogawa)

Game over.  Please try again!


	6. Chapter 6

Valeria Chateau was not a normal mansion.  Sure, it had dozens of attendants who had no names and even more rooms that served no purpose like most mansions.  But Valeria Chateau was not normal.  It could fly.  Of course, it wasn't flying now.  So at the moment, one could say that it was a normal mansion.

You step up to the chateau and enter the arched doorway.  You expertly navigate the rooms of the first floor of the chateau until you reach the mechanical lift, aka the elevator.  The attendant who stands guard at the elevator door stares blankly at you.

"What do you want?" he asks dryly.

"I'm here to visit my friends!"

"Oh, it's you," the attendant comments dryly, "Umbrella girl."

"Hey, that's not very nice!"  You wave your arms wildly for good measure.  Just because you're holding an umbrella does not make that the sole identifier of you!  "I have a name, you know!"

"Well, you don't know my name, now do you...?"

"Err..."  The attendant looks on expectantly.  You don't know his name...

"I thought you didn't have a name," you admit sheepishly, running a hand through your hair.

"Yes, well, I thought not."  He turns his back to you.

You shuffle your feet nervously.  "So, what's your name?"

"Ah, I will give you three days' time," the attendant offers turning around to face you, cackling fiendishly, "And if by that time you find out my name, then shall you keep your first born!"

"My first born...?"  You wonder if the stress of being an unnamed NPC has finally gotten to him but... what stress?

"Umm...  Is it...  Caspar?"

"That is not my name."

"Melchior?" 

"That is not my name," he repeats more emphatically.

"Balthasar?"

"That is not my name."  He smirks, obviously enjoying the attention.

This was getting old.

"Is it... Rumple..."

"Yes, yes?"  The attendant stares at you, eyes wide.

"Rumple...  Stilts..." you draw out slowly.  The attendant leans in closer.

*Crack*  

Another casualty to the mighty umbrella of doom.

"Idiot..."  

You step over your second victim of the day and walk into the elevator, humming a happy tune.

Do you:

a) Go to floor 4 (go to chapter 12)

b) Go to floor 3 (go to chapter 11)

c) Go to floor 2 (go to chapter 10)


	7. Chapter 7

The air is thick with the scent of freshly baked bread.  You find yourself blushing as your stomach loudly protests the fact that you skipped breakfast earlier today.  In order to silence the infernal thing, you rush straight to the Meria bakery.  Marina greets you warmly when you enter.  

"Hello Lilka, what brings you to Meria?"

"Lunch, of course!" you respond, laughing, "And I'm here to visit everyone."

Marina joins in your laughter and pulls a metal tray from behind the counter where she is standing.  She sets the tray, filled with assorted baked goods, before you.

"What would you like?"

"Oh, there's so many..."

There are donuts with pink frosting, slices of cake, pumpkin bread, different types of cookies, a bunch of items you don't know the names of and your favorite, jelly rolls.

"I'll take five jelly rolls and a piece of chocolate cake please!"

"That'll be 200 gella," Marina states matter-of-factly, putting your order into a neat paper bag.

"200 gella?" you whine, hoping to gain the baker's sympathy, "But I don't have that much money..."

"Didn't all of you guys have a fortune saved up when you saved the world?"

"They raised the tuition fees at school..."

"I see."  Marina's tone has gone neutral.

"I'm sure Ashley's tab will cover me," you assure her, holding out your hands for your bag of treats.

"I suppose," Marina replies, frowning slightly.  She hands you the bag, which you take gratefully.  "Oh, and if you see Ashley, please tell him his tab is now at 4,000,200 and that he has to come in every day for the rest of his life to work it off."

"What?"

Marina shrugs.  "He shouldn't have let Tony, Scott, and Tim use his tab."

You finger your fire rod as you are about to leave the bakery.  Marina certainly liked to keep Ashley to herself whenever possible.  You figure she must've not learned how to share in school.  If she was to somehow disappear...  Your chances with Ashley would surely increase, right?  But then who would bake those jelly rolls you like so much?

Decisions, decisions.

Do you:

a) Set her on fire... (go to chapter 9)

b) Thank her for the food and go to Valeria Chateau now (go to chapter 6)


	8. Chapter 8

The warm rush of magic meets you for the second time as you teleport again.

You blink once, twice, thrice...  That's all.

It was that place.  The home of the mad crest sorcerer John Day.  The island where he performed his mad crest sorcerer experiments and things of that nature.  The entire place was just maddening.  Not to mention dirty.  It would seem that mad sorcerers don't have time to clean.

You hear the oh, so familiar creak of the island's only building's rusty door.  

It's John Day!  Hurry!  Run!

You shudder and frantically try to activate the teleport orb but in your harried state, you only manage to drop it.  You chase the orb as it rolls away on the rocky ground.  You stop suddenly.  The orb has stopped rolling away... by hitting the front of the mad sorcerer's boots.

Fearfully, you look up.  

With a mad gleam in his eyes, the mad crest sorcerer holds up a grey rat with feathers haphazardly glued to it.  The rat looks awfully mad...  Well, you suppose you'd be mad too if you were covered with feathers.  Actually...  Feathers...  Well, yes, mad.

"You the maid I ordered?"

"No," you reply as politely as possible.

"That's too bad, my auto-dusting-magic experiment here isn't working too well," he admits, more to himself than to you, "But I'm glad you're here-"

"Umm..." you interject, "I really have to be going."

You reach for the teleport orb but John Day "accidentally" kicks the teleport orb past you towards the rocky beach from where you came.

"You the clock maker? I been waitin' for ages!" the mad sorcerer exclaims.  He flails his arms wildly, almost flinging his makeshift feather duster away.

You blink in surprise.  This was new.  Usually, when you told him you weren't the maid, he ignored you.  "Umm... no."

"There it is, on the wall. Ain't been tickin' for 1, 5, shucks, maybe even 10 years!"  He points to a barrel.

"Uhh... that's not a clock."

"Oh, we don't have time for this."  He takes your right hand with left, which is thankfully not the one holding the rat, and drags you into his house, "Quick! Fix that chair! Then you can use it to reach the roof."

He points to a bookshelf.

"That's not a chair," you reply apprehensively, taking a few steps towards the door.

"She's not a very good handyman, is she Dusty?"  John Day pets "Dusty" the rat a few times before stroking his unshaven chin with his free hand.  "Maybe I should fix her like I fixed you?"

"Eep!"  

You run with all your might through the door and down to the beach, scooping up the teleport orb along your way.

"There's no place like home," you murmur, feeling the orb's magic wash over you, "There's no place like home."

(go to chapter 6)


	9. Chapter 9

No, no, no!  You can't set Marina on fire!  At least not yet...  Hurry up and go to Valeria Chateau!

(go to chapter 6)


	10. Chapter 10

You notice a big, flashing red button next to all the floor numbers...  You find it strange that you've never seen it before.

Do you:

a) Push it (go to chapter 13)

b) Leave it alone (go to chapter 14)


	11. Chapter 11

You notice a big, flashing red button next to all the floor numbers...  You find it strange that you've never seen it before.

Do you:

a) Push it (go to chapter 13)

b) Leave it alone (go to chapter 20)


	12. Chapter 12

You notice a big, flashing red button next to all the floor numbers...  You find it strange that you've never seen it before.

Do you:

a) Push it (go to chapter 13)

b) Leave it alone (go to chapter 25)


	13. Chapter 13

You can't help it.  The temptation is just too much.  You press the button and wait...  Nothing happens.  Confused, you push it again... and again... and again.  Still nothing.

"Hmph, stupid Irving," you mutter, leaning against the soft velvet that layers the walls.

As time passes, you note two strange things, not including the horrible muzak that's playing.  One, you have been in the elevator for some time now and you still haven't reached your floor yet.  And two you feel lighter, a lot lighter.  Actually, maybe the elevator is moving faster, a lot faster?  But that didn't make sense.  The Valeria Chateau didn't have that many floors...  You would hit something eventually, right...?  Unless...

It would seem that Irving had made a few adjustments to his mansion while you were away.  You curse the entire Valeria household as the elevator now slash catapult system launches you into the pretty blue sky.

* * *

Umareta bakari no hoshi no you ni

Zawameki no naka obieteta

Jibun no koto dake shika mamorenai

Dareka wo tasukeru koto mo

Dakedo

Bokura ni takusareta mirai

Sono akogare wo tsuyosa ni kaete

(Lyrics contributed by: Saka Ogawa)

Game Over.  Please try again!


	14. Chapter 14

You peek out of the elevator.  For a mansion and headquarters of a worldwide, terrorist/intergalactic fighting organization, there sure aren't that many people around.  Now that you think about it...  What kind of terrorist/intergalactic fighting organization consists of six active members, seven if you included Irving.  That's not very many people at all.  Maybe Irving isn't as loaded as he makes himself out to be?

Do you:

a) Go right (go the chapter 15)

b) Go left (go to chapter 16)

c) Go straight (go to chapter 17)

d) Go to the 3rd Floor (go to chapter 11)

e) Go to the 4th Floor (go to chapter 12)


	15. Chapter 15

"Hi!" you chirp happily as you walk into the nurses' office.

The nurse closest to you spins around in surprise, a glass container full of tongue depressors slipping from her hands.

"Oh he-hello," Linda greets nervously as she stoops down to pick up the pre-used popsicle sticks.  

The other nurse Momo shakes her head in resignation at her partner's clumsiness.

"Would you like a check up?" Momo asks you, smiling brightly.  She has a scalpel in one hand and a needle in the other.  You don't like needles.  Or scalpels either now that you think about it.  And you definitely don't like nurses who smile like Momo.  You take a step back towards the door as Momo advances on you but you bump into Linda who drops all of the sticks she had just picked up.

"Uhh..."

"Oh, don't worry," Momo assures, her smile even wider, "We'll be gentle."

"..."

Do you:

a) Stay for a check up (go to chapter 18)

b) Knock Linda down and run away (go to chapter 14)


	16. Chapter 16

You poke your head into the cafeteria.  No one's here.  It seems no one's been here for quite some time.  Oh well, you're not very hungry anyway.  There's no point in staying.  Ashley awaits!  Err, your friends await!  Ah, who're you kidding.  Ashley awaits!

(go to chapter 14)


	17. Chapter 17

You walk down the hallway, your shoes sinking into the plush, red carpet.  Ashley's room is the very last one on the right.  But before you reach it, you hear someone speaking faintly behind you.  You whirl around, hands gripping your umbrella.  There's no one there.  It takes a minute before you realize that it is coming from one of the bedrooms.

The voice sounds a lot like Kanon's.  You press your ear against the door to her bedroom to hear what she's saying a little better.

"Oh, Ashley," you hear Kanon gush, "How do you feel about me?"

Strangely, there's no response.  Well, none that you can hear.  There must've been one though because you hear Kanon speaking again.  Ashley must be keeping his voice down.

"Oh, I love you too, Ashley!" Kanon exclaims quite loudly, her voice unusually bright and cheerful, "It was love at first sight!"

Love at first sight...?  When Ashley had first met Kanon, she had tried to kill him...  Well, first she made Ashley promise to meet her at the old abandoned castle then she tried to kill him.  You guess it could be considered a date in a weird, twisted Kanon sort of way.

It's really none of your business but...

Do you:

a) Walk on in (go to chapter 19)

b) Move on to Ashley's room (go to chapter 27)


	18. Chapter 18

"I guess a check up won't hurt."

"Oh, that's great," Momo replies, still grinning, "Linda really needs the practice."

"Practice?"

Maybe this wasn't such a great idea after all.  

"Yes," Momo explains, pressing the flat side of her scalpel against her cheek, "There's been a bad case of the flu going around and Linda needs practice inoculating patients."

A flash of something metallic catches your eye before something sharp jabs you in the arm.

"Ow!" you cry, rubbing your wounded arm, "What was that for?"

"That'll keep you from getting the flu," Momo explains blandly.

"Oh, I see...  Am I supposed to be dizzy?"

"Well, the effects of inoculations do vary," Momo replies, smiling wanly, "Don't worry about it."

"..." 

"Oops," Linda exclaims, eyes wide, "I think I used the wrong bottle."

Momo sighs.  "That's how you lost the last four patients."

"Lost the last four patients...?"

As if on cue, darkness slowly but surely blankets your vision of the floor that rushes up to meet you.  When you come to, you find yourself in a bright place, a very bright place.

"Oh, my head," you moan, rubbing your eyes.  

You try to stand up but there's something heavy on your back.  You strain to see behind you to see what's weighing you down.

"What the!?"

You have wings...  You have wings!  White wings!  White, feathery wings!

Confused, you look around.  Wherever you are, it's a pretty empty place with the exception of a huge line of people that stretches farther than you can see.  Several NPCs you recognize from the Valeria Chateau but don't know the names of are walking towards you.  You realize they all have wings too.

"You let Linda give you a shot too, eh?" one of the NPCs asks.

You nod, unsure of what's happening.

"Well, the line to get into heaven starts over there," another NPC states, pointing to the horizon, "Remember, no cutting."

If it's not obvious, you're dead.

* * *

Umareta bakari no hoshi no you ni

Zawameki no naka obieteta

Jibun no koto dake shika mamorenai

Dareka wo tasukeru koto mo

Dakedo

Bokura ni takusareta mirai

Sono akogare wo tsuyosa ni kaete

(Lyrics contributed by: Saka Ogawa)

Game over.  Please try again!


	19. Chapter 19

You take a deep breath before swinging the door open.

"Hi Kanon!"

You blink in surprise as a bionic fist comes flying at a blinding speed directly at you.

*CRACK*

"Ow," You rub your bruised cheek gingerly, "What was that for?"

To your surprise, Ashley is not in the room.  Actually, Kanon's all alone.  How odd.  You notice a photograph of what looks like Ashley under Kanon's left boot though.  You recognize it as the one that Ashley gave to you when you went back to Sielje to finish school.  Strange that it was here though since you couldn't find it since the time Kanon and Brad came to visit you during finals week.  

"You should learn to knock," Kanon fumes, drawing her bionic hand back into its uhhh... socket, I guess, "What did you hear?"

You gulp as Kanon's human hand reaches for her dagger.

"Nothing!"  You wave your hands in a surrendering motion.  "I didn't hear anything about you declaring your love to Ashley."

"Well, as long as you didn't hear anything," Kanon replies coolly, sheathing her dagger and checking herself in a full length mirror.

Maybe, just maybe if you could make it to the door...  But then luck has not been on your side today.  Only a few seconds pass before Kanon spins around with inhuman speed to face you, your response finally fully sinking in.  

"What?!"

"It's no big deal, really."  You laugh nervously as Kanon blushes fiercely.  "I won't tell, promise!"

Kanon hides her face in the folds of her cape and turns her back to you again.

"Get out," she mutters darkly.  Her hand whirs softly, indicating another preeminent bionic arm attack.

Better get while the getting's good.  You rush out of the room, slamming the door behind you.  Hmph, what's her problem?  But still...  At least you're not dead.  You take that as consolation and continue to Ashley's room.

(go to chapter 27)


	20. Chapter 20

You exit the elevator with a little hop.  You peer to your left and then to your right.  Not a creature was stirring, not even a unnamed NPC.  That was strange.  Usually, there was at least one NPC here.  Not that you knew his name either... or what he did exactly but there was definitely someone on this floor.

Do you:

a) Go to your right (go to chapter 21)

b) Go to your left (go to chapter 22)

c) Go straight (go to chapter 23)

d) Go to floor 2 (go to Chapter 10)

e) Go to floor 4 (go to Chapter 12)


	21. Chapter 21

You skip merrily down the right hallway and reach a door.  Carelessly, you open it and step in to see...

Nothing.  You always figured this was Altaecia's room but you weren't exactly sure considering you never, ever saw her in it.  The bedroom was large compared to the others in the mansion, second in size and decor only to Irving's room.  Still, despite it all, it's still empty and you're quickly becoming bored.

(go back to chapter 20)


	22. Chapter 22

You stop at Irving's room.  You can hear strange rustling noises from behind the door and a male voice murmuring something unintelligible.  It must be a thief!  You hear another voice.  Feminine this time.  It must be two thieves!  You grip your umbrella of doom tightly and take a deep breath.

Do you:

a) Try to stop the thieves (go to chapter 24)

b) Ignore them, Irving's plenty loaded (go to chapter 20)


	23. Chapter 23

Umm...  You reach a balcony that overlooks the second floor.  That's all.  You wonder what the architect was thinking when they put this here.  It seems to serve no purpose whatsoever other than to look down at the people below.  Oh well, best to make use of it while it's here.  You rummage through your pockets and throw a gella over the railing and make a wish.

"I wish that Ashley and I will live happily ever af-"

"Ow!" someone shouts from below, "What the hell just hit me?"

Maybe you should go back now…

(go back to chapter 20)


	24. Chapter 24

"Eep!"  

You have walked into something you really, really, really shouldn't have.  Maybe you should've paid more attention to your sister's etiquette lessons and learned how to knock.  You run out of the room, out of the chateau, and teleport to the Island Outpost to spend the rest of your life in seclusion working on advanced crest spells and cleaning the lonely, misunderstood but mostly mad crest sorcerer's shanty of a house.  Lucky for you, John Day is renowned therapist throughout all of Filgaia.  Unfortunately for you, he is a couple's therapist and can never, ever remove the terrible, horrible images from your head that plague your dreams at night and well, during the day as well. 

* * *

Umareta bakari no hoshi no you ni

Zawameki no naka obieteta

Jibun no koto dake shika mamorenai

Dareka wo tasukeru koto mo 

Dakedo

Bokura ni takusareta mirai

Sono akogare wo tsuyosa ni kaete 

(Lyrics contributed by: Saka Ogawa)

Game over.  Please try again!


	25. Chapter 25

You exit the elevator, the hum of machinery all around you.  You pat your standard issue invisible rpg backpack, making sure your monster card album is in there.  It has taken you forever to collect all of them, well, not too long since you had coaxed Terry into giving you all of his cards.  Well...  Maybe not coax.  More like tricked him into giving them to you.  No matter, today is the day that you are going to trade Kate for her rare Ashley Winchester card.

"Ah, you there!" a high-pitched feminine voice calls from down the hall.

You turn to see Marivel coming down the hallway, her black cape swishing smartly side to side.

"It's been a while," you exclaim, clasping your hands.

The Crimson Noble waves you off.  "Time is meaningless to an immortal."

"Oh, I see...  Have you seen Ashley and the others?"

"I believe they are in their rooms on the second floor," Marivel answers, sadness tinting her voice.

"Is something wrong?" you ask, tilting your head to one side.

"Of-of course not."  Marivel sniffles once.

"Marivel?"

"No one wants to hear my 'Why the Crimson Nobles should rule Filgaia' top reasons list," she wails, burying her head in your shoulder.

You pat her back as reassuringly as you can.  To be honest, you don't really want to hear it either...  When Marivel stepped off into one of her megalomaniacal tangents, which she did quite often, she was a little scary and very disturbing.  But you figure that it couldn't possibly be worse than one of the mad scientist Liz's rantings...  Could it?

Do you:

a) Be a good girl and listen to what Marivel has to say (go to chapter 26)

b) Run fast, run far, run away (go to chapter 14)


	26. Chapter 26

"I'll listen to your story," you offer timidly.

"Really?" Marivel takes your hands into hers, stars in her red eyes.  They're a little cold but you don't mind too terribly.

"Sure!" you confirm.  How bad can it really be?

* * *

"Reason 1,420,119,902: We live in cool castles whereas humans live in pathetic little houses."

Reason 1,420,119,903: We have rare monsters that patrol said cool castles.

Reason 1,420,119,904: We have excellent night vision.

Reason 1,420,119,905: We have red eyes, which are very fashionable.

Reason 1,420,119,906: We invented the DVD player.

Reason 1,420,119,907:..."

You absentmindedly blow a lock of your now grey hair from your eyes as Marivel prattles on forever about the reasons why the Crimson Nobles are superior to humans thus making them the natural rulers of Filgaia. Unfortunately for you, Marivel can actually live to talk forever whereas you cannot.  It would seem that time really did mean nothing to her.

* * *

Umareta bakari no hoshi no you ni

Zawameki no naka obieteta

Jibun no koto dake shika mamorenai

Dareka wo tasukeru koto mo 

Dakedo

Bokura ni takusareta mirai

Sono akogare wo tsuyosa ni kaete 

(Lyrics contributed by: Saka Ogawa)

Game over.  Please try again!


	27. Chapter 27

Finally, you have reached Ashley's bedroom.  You straighten your dress and smooth your hair before entering the room.

"Ashley!"

"Lilka!" Ashley exclaims, jumping to his feet from his bed, a book in hand, "What're you doing here?"

"To be with you."  You swoon for a moment, not realizing what you said.

"What?"  He looks confused, his blue eyes wide.  

Oops, did you say something you shouldn't have?  Hurry, make something up quick!  

"Uhh..."

Anything!  Say anything!  Quick!

"Umm..."

That doesn't really count as saying something!

"To see my shoe," you explain, pointing at your shoes, "You see, I lost my shoe."

Way to go...

"But you're wearing both of your shoes, Lilka."  Ashley frowns slightly.

"Oh, wow, look at that."  You can feel your cheeks growing warm under Ashley's scrutinizing gaze.  You should've said something else.

"Lilka, is there something you want to tell me?"

"No?" you supply timidly.

"No?"

"Nope."

"Nope?"

"No."

"Oh."

"Yep."

"So..."

"So...?"

Your monosyllabic conversation with the former musketeer is becoming quite awkward and slightly disturbing.

"I learned some really nifty magic tricks," you announce suddenly, trying to change to subject.

"That's really great, Lilka, I knew all of your hard work would pay off."  Thankfully, Ashley's smile had returned.  You're in the clear for the moment it seems.

"Would you like to see?" you offer, clasping your hands together.

"Of course!  How about I go get everyone and meet you at the briefing room?" 

"I guess," you answer, disappointed.  

"Great!"  He offers you a lopsided smile as he exits the room.

You stomp your foot in frustration.  He always did this.  Every time you managed to be alone with him, he would always come up with some reason to excuse himself or surround himself with people.  Maybe you should've worked on a love potion or something instead of coming up with ways to make Terry disappear into the Millennium Puzzle dimension.  Well...  Maybe not.

Do you:

a) Suck it up and admit your feelings (go to chapter 28)

b) Go as planned and meet at the briefing room (go to chapter 29)


End file.
